This is the official Blog for Tony Horton, creator of Power 90, Power Half Hour and P90X.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Law # 7 ~ The Plan

SCHEDULE ALL WORKOUTS IN ADVANCE. This creates accountability. Plan an entire month ahead of time. Try to schedule as many workouts as possible with friends and/or family who have similar goals. WOWY was developed so that you could find an easy and effective way to stay accountable and work out together. Now we’ve got people in Trumbull, Connecticut (my hometown) doing Power 90 with people in Hollywood at the same time. That is cool!

I believe that your workout calendar is our most important tool. Power 90 and P90X have everything you need to stay consistent. But for those of you that are having trouble with motivation and consistency, you need to place that calendar where you’ll see it every day. The bathroom mirror, refrigerator, next to the TV, or right on your front door if you have to. I have a desk calendar that stares back at me every day. After 25 years of training I still write down the type of workout I’ve done, and circle the day I did it. At the end of the month, I add them up. My goal (for the last 21 years) has been a minimum of 20 workouts a month—that’s 240 a year with 125 days off.

I’ve always said that you can focus on Intensity and Variety, but if you don’t know what you’re doing and when, you’re toast. It amazes me how so many people wake up in the morning and don’t know the exact time they’re working out that day. We’re pretty good at scheduling when to go to bed, when to eat, and when to watch our favorite show on the tube. We find ourselves trying to squeeze workouts in. The “fit it in whenever” approach might work for a little while, but never survives in the long run. You can’t have a fitness lifestyle if you don’t have a long-term plan.

Beachbody provides the variety—and even the motivation through the boards. Your job is to plan ahead. If you don’t lock down a time for your workouts, they won’t happen. If you make a point to schedule your workouts in advance, your chances of success will skyrocket. My calendar has been a simple and powerful tool for me for over twenty years. Without it…I’m lost. With it, I’m organized, committed, and successful.

WOWY is another tool to help you lock it in because it creates accountability. Accountability: the obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. I schedule six workouts every week. I am accountable to the people I schedule them with. Monday I take off. Tuesday I meet four guys at 5:00 PM for a weight workout. Wednesday I meet one to three people for cardio at 5:30 PM. Every other Wednesday I meet friends at 7:30 to rock climb. Thursday I do weights at 5:00 PM with the boys. Friday is cardio or leg/plyo day at 4:30 or 5:00 PM with one to three friends. Saturday is yoga at 4:00 PM. I meet two to four friends at the yoga studio. Sunday is a gymnastic work out with my crew. It’s locked in!

Stop winging it and schedule in advance when to Push Play. Move your workouts to the top of your priority list. Don’t think about doing them whenever. Schedule them as if they were very important meetings or appointments. BECAUSE THEY ARE! You can love what you’re doing and eat like a star, but if you don’t plan those workouts (a month in advance) you won’t go far.

3 comments:

P90, P90M and P90X User
said...

This is the second most important thing I've taken away from your programs so far, Tony. (The first is the different TYPES of training so important for all-body fitness: running alone wasn't getting the job done at all.) Scheduling a set time with WOWY has been the best way for me to stay motivated and accountable. There are still days that I "dog" it, but then it's a conscious choice and I can't just say that "I forgot" or "I didn't have time." Your line about how we can find time to watch our favorite TV show but not to set aside for exercise is right on the mark.

Thanks for offering such a great program. You've made a huge difference in many, many folks' lives: I hope you feel great about that. You've literally saved lives.

Hi Tony: As much of a scheduler as I am I have problems with executing on my plans. I love to plan but following the plan really depends on how I feel about the plan and what I have intended to do. Not to mention life happening as it tends to happen. I really appreciate the quality and convenience of beachbody workouts. Making a plan and making my workouts my top priority is an incredibly wonderful thing that I am very grateful for.